By Sukoluhle Sibanda | Zimbabwe Parliamentarians staged a sit in during Tuesday’s Parliament session, in protest against Governments lack of action in expeditiously bringing back the rest of women who were trafficked to Kuwait.
 
The move comes after the MPs were criticised by the Zimbabwe Women in Politics Alliance for not doing much on the Kuwaiti crisis.
The situation in Kuwait is so dire that the cash strapped Zimbabwe embassy there faces closure, further compounding the situation for the women trafficked there, who are now stranded, with no solution in sight.
The issue of the 200 hundred women who were trafficked to Kuwait hit the headlines, last March after a Zimbabwean court in the capital Harare, found that former diplomat Ahmed Al-Jeeran was the ring-leader of the trafficking ring, and that he had used his status and power to lure the women, with the help of one of his secretaries, Brenda Avril May.
Human trafficking is a modern day slave trade as it involves moving a person or people from one place to another, often to a far away place for purposes  of enslaving them, putting them into inevitable prostitution, domestic servitude or even begging, among some of the vices.
Zimbabwean women have now fallen victim because of the socio-political situation in the country. After interventions by a parliamentary delegation led by National Assembly Speaker Advocate Jacob Mudenda and chairperson of the portfolio committee on Foreign Affairs Kindness Paradza 32 traumatised human trafficking victims landed at Harare international airport last Friday evening from Kuwait. The emotional women were repatriated back home courtesy also of Young women Christian Association.
“Today we met the ruler of Kuwait His Highness, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah and acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, where a directive was issued that the women should be repatriated in order to avoid the deterioration of relations between the two friendly nations through these criminal activities perpetrated by a syndicate of human traffickers in Kuwait and Zimbabwe,” Paradza told the press at the time of the visit.
Mr Emmanuel Mabaso a Harare citizen said; “The Political situation in Zimbabwe caused an Economic down turn which has seen unemployment levels of more than 90 per cent. Poverty and destitution has caused Zimbabweans to become economic migrants in the diaspora. This has made Zimbabwe a fertile hunting ground for human traffickers.”
Mr Mabaso further suggested a solution that the government has to get the politics right and encourage investment in the country. “This will in turn kick start the economy and industry becomes alive again. The ripple effect will be seen in more employment and a return to working economy with people who have pride and dignity,” he said.